Galaxy Note 8: Dual-Camera with Zoom and Live Focus tried

The Galaxy Note 8 (hands-on) is the first Samsung smartphone with dual camera and the first flagship with dual OIS. Following the presentation, ComputerBase was able to use the new camera for the first time for a handful. The stabilization of the second lens and the bokeh already work well.

Samsung Mobile is using the Galaxy Note 8 camera to develop its own LSI family of the parent company. Two dual-pixel sensors with twelve megapixels each are used on a camera module. The main camera provides a aperture with f / 1.7 and balances overall the Galaxy S8 (test). The Telezoom works with f / 2.4 aperture, which in comparison to the main camera is in principle worse, but for example better than the telephoto of the iPhone 7 Plus with f / 2.8 aperture cut off. Potentially, the zoom of the Galaxy Note 8 can be used more often in poor lighting conditions than with Apple. If it is too dark, the iPhone 7 Plus shoots in favor of quality with digital rather than optical zoom depending on the situation.

However, the competition is dominated by the second optical image stabilizer, which was immediately felt in the test images. In the viewfinder, compared to the iPhone 7 Plus, fewer movements and thus changes in the image section are recognizable immediately. The change from the wide angle to the telephoto lens is done by Samsung and Apple: In the viewfinder there is a small button with 2x label, which changes without delay into the other mode.

Test pictures from 1x to 10x

A bit fiddly however the zooming on the steps between 1x and 2x as well as over 2x. The zoom button did not activate the slider for the other levels in the shortcut. Only the zooming by pinch-to-zoom brought it to the fore, whereupon the operation with the pointing fingers could be continued. Samsung’s exhibitors usually do not run with final software, maybe there is a more practical implementation.

The Galaxy Note 8 allows continuous zooming between 1x and 10x. While with 2x the purely optically converted zoom works, it comes in the intermediate range of 1x and 2x to a fusion of the recordings of both sensors, and everything over 2x is purely digital zoomed. The digital zoom is more interestingly fundamentally carried over the main camera with f / 1.7 aperture, which suggest the EXIF data regarding the aperture. A digital zoom over the tele, which is already closer to the object, would normally be. The best image quality is clearly achieved with the two predefined levels 1x and 2x. Using the digital zoom, the sharpness is visibly reduced, but this is clearly visible only from a sixfold magnification.

LiveFocus for Bokeh

The Galaxy Note 8 telephoto lens can be used quite normally for zooming, but it is also used in the so-called live-focus mode, which in some respects is comparable to the portrait mode of the iPhone 7 Plus, but offers more settings. When switched to live focus mode, the smartphone switches to the telephoto lens and tries to produce a bokeh in the background of the photographed object. If the user chooses an unfavorable distance or if the smartphone can not recognize an object in the foreground, this is communicated to the user accordingly on the display. As soon as everything is right, a bokeh preview is generated in real time in the viewfinder. The results stand out especially in simple shapes with a clear delimitation and a beautiful blur in the background. In the case of hair, it can happen that the effect is not applied to the same extent, movements should also be avoided. Many of the recordings can be seen.

LiveFocus is called the mode but not only because the intensity of the depth of the blur can be changed in real time by slider. Unlike the iPhone 7 Plus, the user can determine whether the background is only to be blurred with a light bokeh or should be barely recognizable with full intensity. In addition, users always have the option of making this setting afterwards. In addition, there is an option in the viewfinder to save the recordings of both cameras so that an image with sharp and one with a blurred background is stored on the internal memory. Apart from that, thanks to f / 1.7 aperture but also with the main camera close-up shooting with natural blur shooting in the background.

Regarding the overall image quality of the main camera, there are no changes compared to the Galaxy S8, but this is not to be understood negatively. Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8, but still the Galaxy S7, count in the picture quality to the top in the market. Samsung scores as often with a crisp sharpness, powerful colors, thanks to fast auto-HDR high dynamics capture as well as a simple operation of the camera app, which often already achieved in the standard adjusted automatic mode very good results. If you require more setting options, you can access these through to RAW recordings via the Pro mode of the camera.

Price and availability

Samsung will bring the Galaxy Note 8 from mid-September to a non-committal price of 999 euros on the German market. The Galaxy Note 8 with dual SIM function will also cost 999 euros. Two of the four colors come to Germany: Midnight Black and Maple Gold. Blue and gray will not be available in Germany. As with the Galaxy S8 (+) the delivery with AKG headphones, power supply for fast charging, USB type C cable and Micro USB adapter are delivered.